1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing device and an information providing method for supporting the selection of an object to which functions have been allocated in advance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a system known as an electronic program guide (EPG) is being put to practical use for television broadcasts, in which a broadcast reception terminal acquires broadcast waves or an electronic program guide via the Internet and displays an electronic program guide on the screen. Program information, such as the name of the program, the broadcast start time, the broadcast end time, program contents, cast members and so on, is displayed on the electronic program guide, the information being displayed for each channel in order of the broadcast schedule. A user accesses the electronic program guide displayed on the broadcast reception terminal and selects the desired program for viewing.
On the broadcast reception terminal, when this kind of content information, such as the program etc. is selected for viewing, viewable channels are displayed, for example, as a table of icons, and the user performs a key operation of at least one of a cursor and an icon to use a graphical user interface (GUI) to select a channel, thus obtaining high ease of operation. Here, as a method for supporting channel selection suiting the preference of the user, a method is known in which current program information is displayed for the channel on which the cursor is position (as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2006-245703 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2006-140590).